I went to Syracuse for film. I applied to and was rejected from the Newhouse School of Communications. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because I walked across the quad to Visual and Performing Arts and was accepted into their film program, where I was able to study the art side of things and learn to become a real director, rather than strictly the business end, which was emphasized over at Newhouse. I did end up taking classes at Newhouse as a senior though, after cutting through a lot of red tape. And it was at Newhouse where I took the most important classes for me and my subsequent career...
My first three years at Syracuse (1998-2001) were spent primarily within the walls of the VPA Film program, studying the aesthetics and intricacies of film language and film making. Sure, I had interned at one of the most successful music video production companies in NYC, but at school, I had no formal guidance in how to go after a job in the film business. Going into my senior year, I knew I needed to get into Professor Richard Dubin's Film Business class, and after talking to a ton of people in administration and cutting through a lot of tape, I did.
I distinctly remember a project where, split into groups, the class was to pick a movie and dissect its makings. My group chose "The Fast and the Furious" and my job was to dig up numbers from pre-production. Being in college, I did what every other kid in that class did, and went to the internet, printed out figures from IMDB.com and showed up the next time in class, only to have Dubin shoot everyone's work down. He told us all that people in the film business are just like anyone else, and it's not hard to get in touch with them; go ask them for
numbers. I - knowing I had to take this seriously, not to mention having something to prove, being one of only two non-Newhousers in the room - did as I was told. I went home, looked up the exec. producer's name, then his phone number in the phone book, left a message on his home's answering machine. He called me the next day and gave me the phone numbers of all of his associate producers and assistants and they gave me all the numbers I needed. The next class, you better believe that my hand was the first one raised.
Going into the next semester, my last at Syracuse, I was scrambling to schedule the 5 credits needed for graduation that my advisor didn't notice I was missing. I decided to create an independent study that would not only provide 5 credits, but would also help me in getting a job. Dubin was kind enough to be the faculty advisor to this class, where I led three friends in documenting the
process of pitching an original screenplay to producers, production companies and agents. We met weekly with Prof. Dubin to discuss strategy and create the best product we could. With minimal-to-no help from the others in my group, I secured meetings with Barry Diller, the Godfather producers, large production houses, agents, cinematographers, writers and others.
Prof. Dubin's tutelage during my senior year has proven to be invaluable.
Lessons learned from both of those classes have guided me since college, and have turned up fantastic results